IT
DEVELOPMENTS
NETWORK CONNECTIONS
Ian Putzger explores the developments in web-based community platforms and how
they’re enhancing data exchange in the supply chain.
The need for better and faster data fl ow along supply chains is
opening doors for community systems and other platforms.
Hartsfi eld Jackson Atlanta International airport is about to
start a pilot project for a cargo community system, and several
forwarders, truckers, airlines and handlers are poised to participate
in the trials, according to Elliott Paige, the airport’s Director of Air
Service Development.
Paige expects the pilot to be completed by the end of the
year, so the system should be open for public use early in 2020.
Adoption should not be a challenge. IT provider Kale Logistics
was tasked to develop a system that is easily adoptable around the
processes that companies in the industry are using, he says.
The CCS concept
Atlanta is leading the charge for cargo community systems (CCS)
in North America. When the concept fi rst arose in the early 1990s
(in an era of EDI links), Miami and New York established CCSs for
their airports, but these never took off, mainly because government
agencies were not ready to integrate into non-government systems,
recalls Emir Pineda, Manager, Aviation Trade & Logistics in the
marketing division of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department.
“Seaports have done better than airports. Some have had
truck scheduling for years,” observes Mike Webber, Associate
Vice President at aviation planning and development fi rm
Landrum & Brown.
Pineda sees merit in a CCS, but discussions in the Miami air
cargo community have not gained the traction he would like to
see. John Ackerman, Executive Vice President of Global Strategy
& Development at Dallas/Fort Worth International airport, is
looking to establish a CCS this
year that will allow everybody
to plug in and exchange data.
The objective is to set up an
agnostic platform and leave
the development of individual
apps, like a truck management
module, to others.
Such a platform would
be particularly helpful if US
Customs comes on board, as
Ackerman hopes to obtain
designation for his airport as
the authorised gateway for
e-commerce going into Texas.
Like him, Paige is also looking
to plug Customs and other
government agencies into
Atlanta’s CCS.
Use cases
BRUcloud, the open data
sharing platform at Brussels
airport launched in 2016, has
a link to Belgian Customs.
The duty men look to make
this the preferred channel
for clearance, although they
will continue to accept direct
There may
be some other
components like
e-air waybill, so
the trucker doesn’t
have to go inside
and wait for a
service agent
Elliott Paige, Director of Air Service
Development, Hartsfi eld Jackson
26 August 2019 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
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